When
it goes quiet you consult the blogs, the experts, the advice and guidance that
will tell you exactly what attitude you should adopt when there’s a fallow
period. Take stock, market, market, market, take a break and relax. But for me,
that’s almost impossible, there are bills to pay and you know your overdraft is
over the overdraft and you’re on the brink of tearing your hair out – who said
anything about staying calm?
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| Stay calm?! |
I’m
not a calm and relaxed person by nature, in fact I’m not particularly patient
either, I’m quite the opposite. I’m sitting here either blogging, networking or
on the brink of ripping my fingernails out because I want something to happen,
now, not tomorrow, not next week. Relaxing through the quiet is not my idea of
fun - it’s my idea of hell on earth.
Promises,
promises
When
you start working with clients, they promise you the earth, they’ll pay
regularly, they’ll give you a constant stream of work – and then it doesn't happen,
because they've over stretched themselves and they just can’t get on top of
things, they have a habit of micro managing everything, without knowing much
about delegation, in fact the word “d-e-le-g-a-t-e” has no meaning for them.
They’re exhausted, they have to hire another person in HQ, they can’t get the
work to you, they can’t pay you as they promised. You offer to help out (yes,
you’re doing it out of self-interest). But suddenly the dream goes ping and you’re
left sitting in your pyjamas wishing you’d stayed in your nice, safe boring,
job.
No
matter how well you plan it, one week you've juggling 3 or 4 clients, and the next
you’re sitting there twiddling your thumbs. Actually, no wait a minute, I’m
not, I do have at least 3 permanent clients….so is the fact that I don’t have
enough work that’s bothering me, or am I just bored?
Thing
is, I spent years working for other people in a really stressful job, where you
had to delegate, you had to know when you needed help, because there were constant
deadlines, from local government, from managers, from external agencies, and
you knew that if you wanted to get something done, to meet the deadline, you
had to ask for help. It was key to getting the job done and staying sane.
Micro
managing everything to the nth degree led to a breakdown and a long time away
on sick leave. I've seen it happen often enough, managers who’d just pushed
themselves too hard in an environment that was stressful enough on its own.
That’s why in the end, I left because I was burnt out too. I do like to keep
busy all the same, but you see people, younger than yourself, doing exactly the
same thing.
There’s
being busy and there’s over stretching yourself.
Work, work and
then more work
Yes
I hated my job, I hated getting up every day to commute to work, I hated the
office politics, the constant emailing to 300 people just to get one thing
done, one decision made, one yes from one person, who probably didn't even read
his emails.
But
I need to be kept busy ALL day, no room for a break…I’m good at organizing my work, because I've had many years of practice. I know when a lot is too much
and to slow down and when too little is just too little. I can’t teach that to
someone half my age, it’s something I think that can only come with experience.
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| Organization skills - a rare but beautiful gift |
I realize I need to be patient, but it’s hard when I have a habit of expecting
the same from others as I expect from myself. If I’m capable of managing my
time, then why can’t someone else, is it really that hard, is it really too
much to expect?
It’s about time
management, a precious skill I’d like to pass on to all of you…
I
when to college, university, studied for two degrees, held a job down and
raised a child – by myself. No babysitters, only 1 or 2 friends and enough motivation
and self-belief for 10 people. If I could teach you one thing, then it’s time
management and how to juggle your way through at least 3 or 4 things in a day.
I’m an expert. I had to be, I had a child to consider, it was either sink or
swim.
And the thing is…I've got into the habit of expecting the same from everyone else.
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| Just try and be more organized dear... |
And
what I find really boring and irritating is that all that advice you get on
what to do when it’s quiet is rubbish, nothing happens quickly enough, and not
to my liking – I want to be paid on time, I want work when its promised. I want
you to give as much as I’m willing to give.
And
you know what?
We need to get a little bit more organized..
We need to get a little bit more organized..
It’s
simply about recognizing how much you can take on realistically, when to turn
things down, and not being greedy, not turning into a megalomaniac and
d-e-l-e-g-a-t-i-n-g.
Don’t give me
advice….
So, this isn't a blog about all the sensible things you can do when it goes quiet, offering the same repetitive sage advice from those, calm, smug experts, experts on telling other people what to do, when they probably don’t do it themselves. This is a blog for all of you out there who've ever felt like this. For those of you out there who sit there and think “What the hell…..?”
Grandmother,
eggs and multi-tasking
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| grandmother, eggs etc |
For
those of you who, like me, come from an environment where you learnt to time
manage, to delegate, to organize, to multi-task and you’re faced with a
generation of 20 something start-ups who couldn't organize their own lunch
break. And you suddenly start to feel that perhaps you’re too old to being
doing this and when they lecture you, it’s like teaching a grandmother to suck
eggs, you know that if you don’t bite your tongue, you’ll be telling them how
to manage their work….and you know you can’t.
For
those of you have the patience, the diligence and the time management skills
that just want everyone else around them to pull their damned finger out and
get a grip.
This
is for you..
Come
on world, shape up.
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| I'm either at the top or the bottom of the world |
